By Josh Rogers
Volume 22, Number 23 | The Newspaper of Lower Manhattan | October 16 – 22, 2009
Bloomberg says his powers are limited at the W.T.C.
Mayor Bloomberg told Downtown Express last week that “things I am responsible for” at the World Trade Center are moving well, and added that officials have no choice but to offer a good deal to W.T.C. developer Larry Silverstein.
“Larry has everybody by the proverbials — he really does,” Bloomberg said. “He can stretch this out for many years, use all of his money and we can wind up with nothing. Nobody likes it, but that’s the truth.”
Bloomberg said the city had looked carefully at Silverstein’s lease and agreement with the Port Authority to see if there was a way to get the developer out, but “all of our lawyers say no.”
He was explaining why he was taking Silverstein’s side in the financial impasse with the Port now, after he backed the authority in 2006 during a similar dispute. The Port has missed many of the deadlines in the 2006 agreement with Silverstein, who is arguing his case in arbitration. The mayor also agrees with Silverstein’s assessment that the commercial office market will rebound soon, which is another reason he favors loan guarantees to the developer to avoid more construction delays at the W.T.C.
The mayor sat down Oct. 9 at his campaign headquarters for a wide-ranging, hour-long interview with Community Media L.L.C. newspapers — The Villager, Gay City News, Chelsea Now and the Express.
He said the W.T.C. is “politically one of the most convoluted situations” controlled by many including the Port as well as the New York and New Jersey governors, who appoint the authority’s board. Since Bloomberg took office almost four months after 9/11, there have been six governors in the two states.
“Every time a new governor comes in everything stops,” he said.
“The good news is the World Trade Center memorial, which is the only thing I have direct control over on the site, is on budget, on time,” he added.
Bloomberg has jurisdiction over the memorial as chairperson of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the private foundation that will own and operate it.
The Port and foundation are working to finish the memorial plaza in 2011 but part of it may have to close while work continues on the train station designed by Santiago Calatrava.
“The day after 9/11’s ten-year anniversary, there is a possibility we will take up part of the plaza that goes over the Calatrava building,” Bloomberg said. He said the number of commuters and subway riders in the station does not justify the 4 – $5 billion PATH and subway station.
Bill Thompson, the Democratic nominee running against Bloomberg, told Community Media the day before that the limited W.T.C. progress was the fault of the “failed leadership” of the mayor. He said the mayor “pops up occasionally” on the W.T.C. instead of being a constant presence in the decisions. Thompson, during an hour-long interview in Community Media’s offices, also repeated the widely held view that Bloomberg, in his first term, let former Gov. George Pataki take the lead Downtown while the mayor focused on getting a Jets/Olympics stadium for the Hudson Yards in Midtown.
Spokespersons for Silverstein and the Port Authority declined to comment on most of Bloomberg’s remarks, although a Port spokesperson said the train station will cost $3.2 billion. The original estimate was about $2 billion and others aside from the mayor have been skeptical of the Port’s current estimate.
Josh@DowntownExpress.com
